Qutb
Seyyid Qutb, Milestones Dar Al-Ilm, Damascus, Syria Jahiliyyah,: Ignorance of the Divine guidance {11} In chapt-1 he states that the Quranic generation was different from the present generations in their understanding and grasp of the Quran. He attributes this to the pace at which they read and memorized the Quran and as they read the verses they imbibed the ideology in letter and spirit, by recognizing and embracing the journey. In Chap-2 he highlights two phases, the Meccan period that lasted 13 years, wherein the Quran explains the existence of man and his position in the universe in relation to the creator and other things. This was done through the prophet as the messenger of god –peace be on him, and the basic message was ‘La ilaha illa Allah’ (There is no deity except God) {24} this was important due to the sordid state of affairs in the world then and recognizing the supreme existence of one god was an act of surrendering to his will and renouncing the evils of this world. The prophet could have hastened the process and motivated people to rise against the oppression however, as was instructed, he kept spreading the word, thus making people want to embrace god from within. The long time is intentional for people to accept the teachings, and thus rules and laws came after the initial 13 years. This is interesting when compared to the latin American movement foco where the militant groups were formed first and they spread the ideology; here the ideology has been spread first, one might even argue for nearly 1000 years and then the militant groups formed…. Which may explain its self sustaining nature, Atran Chap-4 he ratchets up the export industry of jihad Then he was commanded to migrate, and later permission was given to fight. Then was commanded to fight those who fought him and to re- strain himself from those who did not make war with him Later he was commanded to fight the polytheists until God’s religion was fully established. After the command for Jihaad came, the non-believers were divided into three categories. One, those with whom there was peace; two, the people with whom the Muslims were at war; and three, the Dhimmies ( Literally meaning ‘responsibility’ Dhimmies refers to the non-Muslim peoples residing in a Muslim state for whose protection and rights Muslim government was responsible) {53} No political system or material power should put hindrances in the way of preaching Islam. It should leave every individual free to accept or reject it, and if someone wants to accept it should not prevent him or fight against him. If someone does this, then it is the duty of Islam to fight him until either he is killed or until he declares his submission {57} ‘They (the People of the Book; jews and x-tians) have taken their rabbis and priests as lords other than God” ‘Adi reports: “I said, ‘They do not worship their priests Cod’s Messenger replied, “Whatever their priests and rabbis call permissible, they accept as permissible; whatever they declare as forbidden, they consider as forbidden, and thus they worship them.” {60} double standard, for permissible and non permissible tolerance seems lower, here It is not the intention of Islam to force its beliefs on people, Islam is not merely ‘belief. As we have pointed out, Islam is a declaration of the freedom of man from servitude to other men. Fhus it strives from the beginning to abolish all those systems and governments which are based on the rule of man over men and the servitude of one human being to another. Pressure and presents to them its spiritual message, appealing to their reason, it gives them complete freedom to accept or not to accept its beliefs. However, this freedom does not mean that they can make their desires their gods, or that they can choose to remain in the servitude of other human beings, making some men lords over others {61} Would be naïve to assume that a call is raised to free the whole of humankind throughout the earth, and it is con- fined to preaching and exposition. Indeed, it strives through preaching and exposition when there is freedom of communication and when people are free from all these influences, as “There is no compulsion in religion; but when the above mentioned obstacles and practical difficulties are put in its has no recourse but to remove them by force so when it is addressed to peoples’ hearts and minds they are free to accept or reject it with an open mind {63} use of force ‘A reason for prohibiting the use of force during the Meccan period may have been that this was a stage of training and preparation in a particular environment, for a particular nation and under particular conditions, (jnder these circumstances, an important factor in training and preparation was to train the individual Arab to be patient under oppression to himself or to those he loved, to conquer his pride, and not to make personal revenge or revenge for one’s dear ones the purpose one’s life. Training was also needed so that he could learn control of his nerves, not lose his temper at the first pro vocation as was his temperament – nor get excited at the first impulse, but so that he could develop dignity and composure in his temperament and in his action. He was to be trained to follow the discipline of a community which is under the direction of a leader, and to refer to this leader in every matter and to obey his injunctions, even though th^v might be against his habit or taste. The aim was to develop Individuals of high character who would constitute the Muslim community, who would follow the directions of the leader, and who would be civilized and progressive, free of wild habits and tribalism {66} or loco Another reason may have been that the Muslims were in number and they lived only in Mecca, as the message of Islam had not reached other parts of Arabia or had reached only as hearsay- Other tribes considered it as a domestic quarrel of the Quraish; they were watching for the outcome of this struggle. Under these circumstances, if fighting had been allowed, this limited warfare would have resulted in the complete annihilation of the Muslims; even if they had killed a great number of their opponents, they would still have been completely annihilated. Idolatry would have continued and the dawn of the Islamic system would never have arrived and would never have reached its zenith, while Islam is revealed to be a practical way of life for all mankind” {67/68} ideology before the foco As we have described earlier, there are many practical obsta- cles in establishing Cod’s rule on earth, such as the power of the state, the social system and traditions and, in general, the whole human environment. Islam uses force only to re- move these obstacles so that there may not remain any wall between Islam and individual human beings, and so that it may address their hearts and minds after releasing them from these material obstacles, and then leave them free to choose to accept or reject it{72} Idolatrous societies are also among the jahili societies. Such societies are found in India, Japan, the Philippines and Africa. Their Jahili character consists first of the fact that they ieve in other gods besides god, in addition to Him or with- out Him; second, they have constructed an elaborate system of devotional acts to propitiate these deities. Similarly, the laws and regulations which they follow are derived from sources other than God and His Law, whether these sources priests or astrologers or magicians, the elders of the nation, or the secular institutions which formulate laws without regard to the Law of God, and which attain absolute authority in the name of the nation or a party or on some other basis, while absolute authority belongs to Cod alone, and this can be brought into action only in the way shown to us by the Prophets of Cod. Jewish and Christian societies today are also jahili societies. They have distorted the original beliefs and ascribe certain attributes of God to other beings. This association with Cod has taken many forms, such as the Sonship of God or the Trinity; sometimes it is expressed in a concept of God which is remote from the true reality of God {81} my way or the highway Islam knows only two kinds of societies, the Islamic and the jahili. The Islamic society is that which follows islam in belief and ways of warship, in law and organization, in morals manners. The jahili society is that which does not follow islam and in which neither the Islamic belief and concepts, nor Islamic values or standards, Islamic laws and regulations, or Islamic morals and manners are cared for {93}